Shrimp grading machine



April 5, 1955 P. A. BRAEDESHAW 2,705,560

SHRIMP GRADING MACHINE Filed Oct. 13, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Pink ABrads/law IN V EN TOR.

April 5, 1955 P. A. BRADSHAW 2,705,560

SHRIMP GRADING MACHINE Filed Oct. 13, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig 2 Fig .9

Fi 8 Pink A. Bradshaw IN VEN TOR.

April 5, 1955 P. A. BRADSHAW 2,705,560

SHRIMP GRADING MACHINE Filed Oct. 13. 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig 4 5 f1 1i M 42 22 Fig 5 50 34 Fig /0 O '7 F "3 2 2 r" i J k I \l 74 Pmk A.Brads/70w IN V EN TOR.

My Mm? United States Patent SHRIMP GRADING MACHINE Pink A. Bradshaw,Aransas Pass, Tex. Application October 13, 1952, Serial No. 314,446

Claims. (Cl. 209-293) This invention relates to a grading machine and isa continuation-in-part of my co-pending application, geriali No.232,891, filed June 22, 1951 and now abanone A primary object of thepresent invention is to provide a shrimp grading machine of the rotatingdrum type which will align the shrimp with the elongated openings in thedrum as the latter rotates and which contains a novel means forpreventing the shrimp from becoming lodged in the drum openings.

Another important object of the present invention, ancillary to thepreceding object, is to provide a shrimp grading machine having animproved means for guiding the shrimp to suitable containers as the sameare discharged by the grading machine.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a shrimp gradingmachine having a novel and efficient means for receiving the shrimptherein as the grading drum is being rotated.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a shrimp gradingdrum being formed from a plurality of elements forming substantiallyhelical members, which members have a progressively increasing lead fromthe upper end of the drum to the lower end thereof and define dischargeopenings therebetween, each of said elements being specially constructedfor ease and simplicity of repair or replacement.

These, together with various ancillary objects and features which willlater become apparent as the following description proceeds, areattained by this invention, a preferred embodiment of which is shown byway of example only in the accompanying drawings, wherein: hFigure 1 isa side elevational view of the grading mac me;

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the grading machinetaken along section line 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is an end view of the grading drum of the machine;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal, medial sectional view of the grading drumand the inner deflector drum;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional View of the grading drum takensubstantially along section line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the helical forming elements;

Figure 7 is a longitudinal view of the inner deflector drum and itsmounting on the drum shaft;

Figure 8 is a front view of the means for deflecting the shrimp into aproper container after the same have been graded in the grading drum;

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along sectionline 9--9 of Figure 8 disclosing the hinged mounting of the deflectorblades for guiding the graded shrimp; and

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along sectionline 10--10 of Figure 8 disclosing the means whereby the deflectingblades may be held in selected positions.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, it is to be notedthat like reference characters are utilized to designate similar partsthroughout the various views.

In accordance with my co-pending application, Serial No. 232,891, theshrimp grading machine indicated generally by the numeral 10 includes asupport frame composed of standards 12 which are connected and braced bya plurality of side and end rails 14 and 16 respectively. Theintermediate end rails 18, on the opposite sides of the frame, arerelatively vertically offset, and a pair of axially aligned journals 20are carried thereby and support the horizontally inclined axle 22. Aconcavoconvex spider 24 has its hub 26 non-rotatably secured to theshaft or axle 22 adjacent the upper end thereof, and an annular stripsupporting member 28 is secured to the ends of the spider for movementtherewith. A second strip supporting member 30 is non-rotatably attachedto the lower end of the axle 22 as by a spider 32 and a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced angle iron or other shaped, strips 34 aresecured to the members 28 and 30.

A plurality of bars 36, having a triangular cross-section, are securedby suitable fasteners to the inner faces of the strips 34. These barsare mounted in end to end relation as is best shown in Figures 1 and 4and inclined relative to the strips to form a coil-like member, such as38, which will hereinafter be referred to in the specification as ahelical member.

Although in the embodiment of the invention shown, straight bars 36 areutilized, it is contemplated that longitudinally curved bars which areconcentric with the shaft or axle 22 may be used, or, alternatively, asingle substantially helical member may be utilized in lieu of theseparate bars 36. As illustrated, the helical members 38, formed by thebars 36 are interdigitated and arranged coaxially. In this manner, theinterstices between the helical members are maintained at the desireddimensions, while the lead of the helical members, and consequently therate of feeding of the shrimp thereby is increased. Lead of the members38 increases from the upper to the lower end of the drum 40 formed bythe helical members to thereby effect progressive grading of the shrimpas the drum is rotated.

As thus far described, the shrimp grading machine is identical to thatdisclosed in my aforementioned copending application.

However, in the form of the present invention, a deflector drum 42, isdisposed within and concentrically spaced from the wall of the outerdrum 40 and is fixedly mounted at its ends on the shaft or axle 22 forrotation therewith. As is most clearly seen in Figure 4, the forward endof the deflector drum or inner drum 42 is coneshaped as at 44 and joinsthe hub 26 of the spider 24. The lower end of the inner drum 42 isclosed by means of the flat bottom 46 to which is secured the hub orbushing 48 mounting this end of the member on the shaft 22. The sidewall and end walls of the inner drum 42 are solid and the size of thedrum 42 is such that an annular space is provided between the helicalmembers 38 and the side wall of the drum 42. Thus, as the outer drum isrotating, the inner drum will be simultaneously rotated and by virtue ofits deflecting action will break the fall of the shrimp being gradedwithin the drum and thereby most effectively prevent them lodging in theinterstices between the helical members 38 whereby a most efficientgrading operation may take place.

To drive the drums 40 and 42, a motor 50 is mounted in any suitablemanner upon the top of the grading machine frame. A drive shaft 52extends from the motor 50 and a pulley 54 is mounted on the drive shaft52. Laterally offset from the drive shaft 52 is a driven shaft 56 whichis downwardly inclined from the horizontal axis of the machine frame andis parallel to the axle or shaft 22. A pulley 58 is interconnected tothe pulley 54 by means of a belt 60 whereby upon rotation of the driveshaft 52, a corresponding rotation will take place in the driven shaft56. Adjacent one end of the shaft 56 is mounted a sprocket which isabove and in alignment with a corresponding sprocket on the lower end ofthe axle 22. A chain 62 connects the sprockets whereby motion impartedto the driven shaft 56 is likewise imparted to the axle 22. Obviously,any desired size of pulleys and sprockets may be utilized to give thedesired driving ratio.

In order to clean the drum and thereby even more effectively preventshrimp from lodging between the interstices of the helical members, ashaft 64 is journaled at its ends by journals 66 on a pair of end framemembers 12. The shaft 64 extends parallel to the side frame members 14and has a brush spirally secured thereto throughout the length of thedrum 40. The brush is indicated by the numeral 68.

Mounted at one end of the frame on a bracket 70 is a dispensing chute 72which is inclined downwardly and extends within the confines of the drumby virtue of the concavo-convex spider 24. By this means, the depositingof shrimp within the drum 40 is greatly facilitated without any loss ofthe shrimp between the dispensing chute and the grading drum and in amanner whereby the grading drum 40 may be utilized to its full capacity.

To urge the shrimp dumped into the grading drum 40 between the spacesbetween the helical members 38, these members are formed triangular incross-section so that the inwardly converging sides 74 thereof will tendto align the shrimp within the spaces between the bars 36. To facilitateattaching the ends of the bars 36 to the strips 34, the ends of the bars36 are extended beyond the triangular shaped portions 74 as at 76 andapertures 78 are formed in these extending ends for the reception offasteners 80 attaching the bars to the strips 34.

An inclined discharge chute or plate 82 is mounted on the frame beneaththe drum 40 whereby shrimp graded in the grading drum 40 may be guidedto suitable containers. Naturally, the shrimp during the gradingoperation fall through different portions of the drum 40 onto thedischarge chute 82. Thus, the discharge chute or plate 82 is separatedinto compartments by the separating plates 84. To guide the shrimp ontothe chute 82 a deflecting plate 86 is mounted on the frame below thedrum 40 at an angle complementary to the inclination of the chute 82,thus, those shrimp which do not immediately fall upon the chute 82 intothe compartments formed therebetween by the plate 84 must first strikethe deflecting plate 86 from which they are guided to the chute 82. Itis to be noted that the separating plates 84 do not extend to the bottomof the chute 82 but terminate rearwardly of the lower edge thereof. Aswill be noted particularly in Figure 8, the members 84 are arranged in aV-shaped pattern diverging toward the lower end of the chute 82. Betweeneach of the Vs formed by a pair of the separating plates 84 are hingedlymounted deflecting blades 88 by means of hinge pins 90 secured to thelower edge of the deflector plate 86 and extending through apertures inthe chute 82. Below the diverging ends of the separating plates 84 areformed arc-shaped patterns of apertures 92. Latch bars 94 slidablymounted upon the deflecting blades 88 are adapted to be inserted in aselected one of these apertures when the corresponding deflecting bladehas been swung to a selected position. The swinging movement of thedeflector blades 88 is such that the angle these blades may assume maybe greatly accentuated with respect to the angle of an associatedseparating plate 84. Thus, by this arrangement, when the shrimp passthrough the grading drum 40, and thence onto the discharge chute 82,they are initially guided by the deflecting plates 84 and when it isfurther desired to deflect their course to other containers, the angleof this deflection may be further increased by swinging the deflectingblades 88 about their hinge pins 90. In this manner, the removal orshifting of containers is not necessitated and the shrimp may bedeflected to any desired container simply by manipulation of thedeflecting blades 88.

In operation, the shrimp are fed by way of the dispensing chute 72 intothe upper end of the drum 40 which is rotated by the motor 50 in adirection to cause the helical members 38 to feed the shrimp downwardlyinto the drum. As the drum 40 rotates, the fall of the shrimp as theyare churned through the drum in the grading operation is deflected bythe inner deflecting drum 42.

The inwardly converging sides 74 of the bars 36 serve to guide theshrimp and align them with the interstices between the helical members.According to the difference in the spaces between the helical members,the shrimp will be discharged into the various compartments of thedischarge chutes from whence they may be allowed to freely fall into anysuitable containers or may be deflected in their course to another angledirection and other containers by means of the deflecting blades 88. If,even with the deflecting drum 42, any shrimp should become lodgedbetween the helical members, the action of the brush 68 will remove themfrom their lodged position.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanatron is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur 1. A shrimp grading machine including an elongated,horizontally inclined grading drum having upper and lower ends, a shaftextending axially through said drum and spiders fixed to said shaft andforming ends for said drum, a deflecting drum mounted on said shaft andbeing disposed concentrically within said grading drum, said gradingdrum including a peripheral, substantially helical member definingopenings between adjacent portions of progressively increasing widthfrom said upper to said lower end, the spider forming the upper end ofsaid grading drum being concavo-convex, said concavo-convex spiderconstituting a recessed mouth for said grading drum, a downwardlyinclined dispensing chute terminating within said recessed mouth, theupper end of said deflecting drum being conically tapered and joiningthe hub of said concavo-convex spider facilitating the initialdeflection of shrimp discharged into the grading drum toward theperiphery of the drum.

2. A shrimp grading machine including an elongated, horizontallyinclined grading drum having upper and lower ends, a shaft extendingaxially through said drum and spiders fixed to said shaft and formingends for said drum, a deflecting drum mounted on said shaft and beingdisposed concentrically within said grading drum, said grading drumincluding a peripheral, substantially helical member defining openingsbetween adjacent portions of progressively increasing width from saidupper to said lower end, and guide means disposed beneath said gradingdrum for channeling graded shrimp into containers, the upper end of saiddeflecting drum being cone-shaped and terminally connected to the hub ofsaid concavo-convex spider.

3. A shrimp grading machine comprising a frame, a downwardly inclinedshaft journaled at its ends on said frame, spiders adjacent the upperand lower ends of said shaft, hubs on said spiders being fixedly securedto said shaft, a grading drum concentrically surrounding said shaft,said spiders forming ends for said grading drum, said grading drumincluding a peripheral substantially helical member defining openingsbetween adjacent portions of progressively increasing width from saidupper to said lower end, a deflecting drum mounted on said shaft anddisposed concentrically within said grading drum and being fixedlysecured to said shaft, means on said frame for rotating said shaft, andguide means on said frame beneath said grading drum for guiding shrimpfrom said grading drum, the upper end of said deflecting drum beingconically tapered and joining the hub of said concave-convex spiderfacilitating the initial deflection of shrimp discharged into thegrading drum toward the periphery of the drum.

4. A shrimp grading machine comprising a frame, a. downwardly inclinedshaft journaled at its ends on said frame, spiders adjacent the upperand lower ends of said shaft, hubs on said spiders being fixedly securedto said shaft, a grading drum concentrically surrounding said shaft,said spiders forming ends for said grading drum, said grading drumincluding a peripheral substantially helical member defining openingsbetween adjacent portions of progressively increasing width from saidupper to said lower end, a deflecting drum mounted on said shaft anddisposed concentrically within said grading drum and being fixedlysecured to said shaft, means on said frame for rotating said shaft, andguide means on said frame beneath said grading drum for guiding shrimpfrom said grading drum, said spider constituting the upper end of saidgrading drum being concavo-convex and forming a recessed mouth forfeeding shrimp into the grading drum as the same is rotated, the upperend of said deflecting drum being conically tapered and joined at itstip to the hub of said concave-convex spider.

5. A shrimp grading machine comprising a frame, a downwardly inclinedshaft journaled at its ends on said frame, spiders adjacent the upperand lower ends of said shaft, hubs on said spiders being fixedly securedto said shaft, a grading drum concentrically surrounding said shaft,said spiders forming ends for said grading drum, said grading drumincluding a peripheral substantially helical member defining openingbetween adjacent portions of progressively increasing width from saidupper to said lower end, a deflecting drum mounted onsaid shaft anddisposed concentrically within said grading drum and being fixedlysecured to said shaft, means on said frame for rotating said shaft, andguide means on said frame beneath said grading drum for guiding shrimpfrom said grading drum, said spider constituting the upper end of saidgrading drum being concave-convex and forming a recessed mouth forfeeding shrimp into the grading drum as the same is rotated, saiddeflecting drum having a cone-shaped upper end joined to the hub of saideoncavo-convex spider to prevent shrimp from lodging between thedeflecting drum end and the spider and to initially direct the shrimptoward the wall of the grading drum.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 9,522Peckham Jan. 4, 1853 34,694 Rohmer Mar. 18, 1862 462,810 Detar Nov. 10,1891 515,812 Barr Mar. 6, 1894 645,450 Bohannan Mar. 13, 1900 1,450,145Ellenwood Mar. 27, 1923 1,484,025 Hofer Feb. 19, 1924 1,875,232 FowlerAug. 30, 1932 1,875,562 Clute Sept. 6, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 25,493Denmark Jan. 26, 1920

